


Stranger in a Quarantine

by BonesofDawn



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 03:38:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14511726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BonesofDawn/pseuds/BonesofDawn
Summary: A short, little rebellion in the face of senseless death.





	Stranger in a Quarantine

    The blew came too fast. Flashes of the sterile fluorescent light took him hostage, accompanied by the pungent taste of gleaming tiles. They planted a bomb, which penetrated deeply in the moment he was born. The ticking had never been so prominent until he ran away, and lived. But something was different now, as the tangy taste of blood seeped into his throat.

    You could not win against the drugs, it was a fact engraved in every little brain out there, you simply could not. His screams were encouraged by this unknown disease that seized his whole core. The officials recognized it quickly enough, but the uncertainty of this virus left them to scramble up the dangerous hosts and shove them away as far from humanity as possible. “It is of utmost importance to take care of this horrifying sickness for good. It was a battle the whole nation fought for thousands of years,” the sickening phony voices drowned outwards in every outlet possible for years and years. It had only been a decade or so since the Third Restoration, yet another wave of chaos had already been broken throughout the restless continent.

    They took over him. No matter how Erwin raged against the white, heavy uniforms and the indistinguishable faces behind them, he had no more strength to break free from the cruel restraint. For once, Erwin let the drugs take over him, spreading through every cell of his being uninterrupted. Once the drugs get to you, only darkness remains.

   The stinging brightness of the facility woke Erwin up from a dreamless slumber, the first thing he noted was the tangible emptiness that surrounded the whole place. The utter silence was so unnatural that no life ever seemed to have existed, and Erwin tried to immerse himself in that eery peace, failingly. When the pounding in his skull finally subsided, he slowly opened his eyes to a small, white room with a few more tiny white figures huddled together, unmoving. Erwin’s heart struggled not to break down right then and there, which sounded inviting after the toxic invasion. Even knowing well that now wasn’t the time to reflect on the triumphs and failures of his life, Erwin closed his eyes again in an attempt to accommodate the idea of certain death. He didn’t know very much about the world, he wasn’t supposed to. Just like any other member of society, he gobbled up whatever they fed him like a starving chick, but one day, he contracted the disease. It had no name, no name was that disclosed to the public anyway, but it was the dreaded doom of every man.

    In an instance of lightning, Erwin’s eyes shot open: he finally remembered the exact moment he was marked with the inevitable guarantee of quarantine. It was that boy, in the sunlight. That young, small man twirled in the ever unreachable sky. His wings were those blistered and bruised feet of his, and his crown the entrancing voice Erwin was convinced that only existed in impossible fantasies. That little existence became his butterfly, whom he had pledged to follow until the end, for reasons not recognized.

    Chuckling coarsely at that distant memory of his, Erwin was ready to slip into the undiscovered abyss of death--until a strangely familiar voice spoke to his slumpy form.

    “Don’t you fucking dare leave too,” growled the rough voice, “I swear I will strangle you back to life, you stupid lump of idiocy.”

    For some reason, Erwin grinned, like a carefree idiot. Yet, there was something about that voice, prompting him to hold on one last time.

    “So you can act like an actual human after all,” stern clicks of tongue followed, “Now, if you amoeba-like dumbass oaf can understand human speech, tell me your name.”

    Erwin finally opened his eyes wide enough to see the stormy silver orbs that somehow illuminated brighter than those blinding beams, but in a very different way.

    “I am Erwin.”

    Bright slits gave him a quick scan and settled back to battle with the azure blue, which pierced back with just as much intent. The fleeting instance passed just as soon as it began as the other man averted his gaze and inched closer to Erwin. But no words ever breathed out from him.

    “Do I get a name in return, fearless stranger?”

    “No, you do not,” and he whispered hesitantly, “Come, I have something to show you. It’s only because we are at the end of our fucking lives so don’t think you deserve it or anything.”

    Erwin let this curious man lead him on, across the steely cold floor that suddenly seemed like a vast ocean of white. He was led, across a threshold. When the azure met the silver again, the limp figures along with the sterile stank of past existence faded, only the uncharted yearning remained, aching and precarious.

Whatever dooms Erwin dreaded vaporized when the Stranger traced his pale, calloused toes in slow circles that grew faster, as if he was drawing runes. Magic was a childhood fantasy to Erwin and he allowed himself to be naive for once, just enough to believe that Stranger was a true magician. In his focused gaze Erwin found resilience, he was definitely casting a spell. When sweat glistened between his brows and laboured breath reigned over this taut spinning top of a man, he closed in. Without even a non-committal glance, the Stranger flew towards Erwin, grumbling ancient chants that grew louder without awareness.

    But Erwin didn’t budge. He saw this magnificent maelstrom of rage and grace storming towards him, yet all he cared for was that beautiful silver lining. What did he have to lose? He would embrace this glorious stranger with all that he had.

    And he did.

    This storm did not destroy. It didn’t trample on child-like hopes, it didn’t slaughter human spirit, it didn’t massacre all the gritty and great stuff that made humans truly divine. Who knew that the breezes of a stranger threw out filaments that latched onto a foreign, forbidden dream and returned it back to Erwin? Erwin caught on to the webs that the stranger threw, his grip on the hand sturdy and sure.

    Leaning in, he released the stranger with that one word. “Fly.”

    And he did.

    Brimming tears, a crack of voice, a final stumble. He sang as he flew.

    “It's savage and it's cruel

    And it shines like destruction

    Comes in like the flood

    And it seems like religion

    It's noble and it's brutal

    It distorts and deranges

    And it wrenches you up

    And you're left like a zombie.”

    Erwin knew this tune, better than anyone else. But this man, god, this man! He spun this magnetic tale of, he couldn’t quite put a name on it, but oh, how he spun it into pure gold.

    The Stranger was sacred, he sang a song of salvation. His wings, Erwin found, were wounded, they were wound up into tight knots of compassion, understanding, and forgiveness. Perhaps this wasn’t magic, it was just him, an enticing enigma that felt so transparent yet tangible.

    But he was just a stranger, supposedly another little figure in white. With unimpressive scars and uninspiring features that others would deem dull. But Erwin wasn’t like the others, he had seen him somewhere before. Maybe he saw just his incredibly human spirit, a fleeting flutter. it was the only thing that ever felt real other than jovial dances with banned music. The Stranger flew on, he saw Erwin and never broke this newfound bond, he held it tight but broke the chains at the same time.

    Then the Stranger flew to him, back to him.

    “And I want you

    And I want you

    And I want you so

    It's an obsession.”

    In the aftermath of breathy groans and silky hair grazing Erwin’s ear, they slowly touched. There wasn’t any hesitation, it was slow, but it was sure, because nothing else existed.

     “We were born sick, but we...we love it,” an acknowledging smile.

     "We were born sick, but we love it,” a knowing gaze.

     “So that’s what it was.”

     “Yes.”

     “And your name is?”

   

     “Love, Levi.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this little thing I did for the prompt "quarantine." I was trying to find a song with fitting lyrics halfway through, and I happen to find "Love Is a Stranger" by Eurythmics, which actually worked well even though I never listened to it haha! I thought about making these two die, but it's really up to you to imagine what happens next. I'M SORRY THAT IT'S SO SHORT! Please tell me if there is anything in my writing that can be improved, thank you lovely people!


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